Thirty Before Thirty
by QuiteTheTrueLove
Summary: Thirty tasks on a list to do before her 30th birthday. Emma Swan never thought that she would actually get to cross off even one thing on that list, given that it had been buried between old papers and books. But when her best friend Ruby helps her unpack the boxes of her old life after an especially nasty break-up, Emma takes the bucket list as the start of her new life.


**Thirty Before Thirty**

''What's this?'' Ruby inquired, holding a creased piece of paper up to her face. Emma looked up from the box she was currently unpacking.

''No idea, but it looks old, just throw it on the pile that goes into the trash.'' She replied with a shrug, the paper was faded, and it seemed like it had been ripped from a notebook a long time ago. It didn't look important, so it had to go, like countless other things in her life.

Emma was smack in the middle of an important transition. Her useless douchebag of a boyfriend Neal had cheated on her with his assistant Tamara, causing Emma to move out of their shared condo (but not before she smashed his flat-screen TV with a baseball bat, he always loved that thing more than her).

So that's how Emma and Ruby ended up on the floor of her new apartment, surrounded by boxes filled with her old stuff. Both of them had their third glass of red wine in their hands as their sifted through the documents, books and CDs. The Civil Wars were filling the room with the soft tunes of an acoustic guitar, the lyrics speaking to Emma on a whole new level.

Emma took a sip of her wine, her right hand pulling one of the CD cases out of the box. It was one of those that Neal had given her. She stared at the dedication on the cover ''_Love you, babe! Happy Valentine's Day!_''. Yeah, that was defintely going into the trash.

Suddenly, Ruby started to guffaw, apparently highly amused by whatever was written on the old sheet of paper.

''Oh my god, this is priceless.'' She exclaimed, her chest heaving to get some air into her lungs between her outbursts of laughter.

''What? What is it?'' She asked her friend, she leaned forward and tried to snatch the paper out of Ruby's hand. But the brunette held it up in the air, effectively keeping Emma from taking it from her. She cleared her throat and began reading off the paper.

''Thirty things I want to do before I become thirty.'' She read with a formal voice. ''I had no idea that you made a bucket list, Emma.''

''I didn't.'' Emma said.

''The heart stickers are a nice touch.'' Ruby said, waving the list in front of Emma, but keeping it just out of reach. As much as Emma thought about it, she couldn't remember when she made the list.

''Number one,'' Ruby said. ''Go horseback riding.''

''See, that can't be mine, I don't even like horses.'' Emma told her friend.

''Yes, but only since one of them threw you off when we went riding two years ago, remember that? I guess you can check that one off.'' Ruby said, she was highly amused by this, her eyes scanning the bucket list.

''Oh, number twelve is a good one,'' She giggled. ''Go skinny dipping.'' Emma placed her wine on the floor beside her and lunged forward, successfully snatching the sheet of paper from Ruby.

''Hey, I wasn't through with that.'' Ruby complained playfully. Emma ignored her and looked at the bucket list in her hands. And as she read through the thirty items on the list, she slowly remembered writing all of this down.

''Okay, I wrote this when I graduated from high school, I think.'' She explained to Ruby. Back then she felt like her whole life was in front of her, and she could do anything she wanted. She had felt invincible, just like any other teenager that graduated from school. She moved to throw the paper into the trash, but Ruby stopped her.

''Wait, what are you doing?'' She asked Emma, fishing the crumbled paper out of the pile.

''As I said, I made this when I was eighteen, what am I supposed to do with it now?''

''Cross it off, do every single thing that's on there.'' Rubby exlaimed, she was more excited about this than she should be.

''Uhm, no thank you, I will certainly not go skinny dipping.'' Emma said, and with that she thought the subject found an end. But of course, Ruby felt otherwise.

''Come one, Emma, this is the perfect time.'' Ruby stated. ''You'll turn thirty in two months, and you'll already did half of the things on here. And with Neal out of the picture you can finally do whatever you want.''

Emma shook her head at her overexcited friend, she picked her glass back up to finish of her wine.

''I'm in the middle of moving, Ruby. And I just got that promotion, I don't have time for doing things that I put on a silly list over ten years ago.''

''Consider it as the start of your new life. You missed out on so many amazing things being with that douchebag, please Emma, you have to do this. Do yourself the favor.'' Ruby was basically begging by now, but Emma just couldn't find it in her to agree. The girl that had written this list had been full of hopes and dreams, that girl didn't exist anymore.

''You want more wine?'' Emma asked as she stood up, she didn't wait for Ruby's response as she headed for the kitchen. Ruby had dropped the issue when Emma came back with a new bottle of merlot. They continued looking through the contents of the boxes, both of them laughing at old pictures from their time in college and reading passages from corny vampire novels that Emma used to love.

**~30*B*30~**

The next day Emma woke up with a dull pounding in her temples, she and Ruby definitely had gone overboard with the wine. Ruby had stayed way after midnight, until her boyfriend Victor had picked her up and almost had to carry her out of the apartment.

Emma rolled out of bed and shuffled into the small bathroom. A look into the mirror above the sink showed her exactly just how long the night was. Remnants of her mascara were crusted in the corners of her eyes and her hair was a tangled mess.

_If she always looked like that in the morning, then there was no wonder that Neal decided to replace her with someone younger_, Emma thought as she rubbed the tender skin on her cheeks, trying to bring some color to her pale face.

After a quick and refreshing shower, Emma headed into the kitchen, she internally cringed at the empty wine bottles on the counter as she turned the coffee machine on. It didn't take long for the kitchen to smell like fresh brewed coffee, her favorite smell in the world. The machine started to gurgle and sizzle as the hot beverage dripped into the pot.

As Emma walked towards the front door to get her mail, she saw that she had a couple of messages on her answering machine. She pressed play and almost dropped the mail again when she heard his voice.

''Hey Emma, it's Neal. I'm, uhm, I just wanted to tell you again that I'm sorry. I never wanted you to find out like this.'' He said.

''You mean you regret that I found out at all.'' Emma said out loud as she leaned against the front door.

''Anyway, I called August and he gave me your new number.''

''Damn you, August!'' Emma cursed, she had to talk to him about this, and she wouldn't be nice about it.

''The other reason why I'm calling you is that I think you accidently took my Breaking Bad DVDs. We wanted to watch that but I couldn't find it, so it would be great if you could bring it back or something like that. Well, I guess I see you.'' And with that he hung up.

''Are you fucking kidding me?'' Emma yelled at her answering machine. _They_ wanted to have a movie night? He called because he and his new girlfriend wanted to watch a fucking DVD that belonged to her? She couldn't believe it, how could she have been so blind for so long.

Emma dropped the mail on the side table and stormed into the living room. She cursed when she hit her toe on one of the heavy boxes, the pain only adding to her anger. She walked towards the pile of DVDs that Ruby and her had gone through the night before. Sifting through the cases she finally found the one Neal was talking about. Emma took the DVD and threw it on the floor in the middle of the room before searching through the boxes for a very particular item.

''Aha! There you are.'' She exclaimed in delight when her fingers closed around the base of a heavy brass sculpture of Lady Justice that she got when she graduated from law school, and now she would bring justice into this whole damn situation.

Emma smashed the DVD case with the marble base of the sculpture, shattered pieces of plastic flying through the air as she hit it again and again with all her strength. Her chest heaved with breaths when she finally stopped. Her shoulders dropped and she felt like crying.

_Fuck him_, she thought,_ fuck him and his stupid new girlfriend. _She didn't need him, she would let go of everything and start a new life. A life that had no place for him.

Her gaze fell on a pile of papers to her left and a certain piece of paper caught her attention. It was the bucket list that Ruby found last night, the one she had planned to throw away. What had Ruby said?

_'Consider it as the start of your new life.' _And Ruby had been right after all, Emma needed a fresh start. And what is better than doing the things that she always wanted to do, things that she was always to afraid to do?

Emma stood up, leaving the shatters of the DVD (and her former life) lying on the floor and headed back to the side table with her phone on it. She dialed Ruby's number and wasn't surprised when the call went straight to voicemail.

''Ruby, I'm gonna do it. I'm crossing of every single damn thing on that bucket list.''

**~30*B*30~**

''What if someone sees?'' Emma asked as she and Ruby stood with their toes buried in the sand of Carson Beach. It was the middle of the night, the air was slightly chilly and the waves were lapping at the shore. Emma and Ruby chose a part of the beach that was fairly secluded, but still, someone could see them at any time. Maybe some night jogger, or a cop. Yes, they would get arrested, Emma was sure of that.

''If someone sees than good for them, your body rocks, girl.'' Ruby replied, clutching Emma's clothes in her arms.

''Why don't you do it?'' Emma asked her friend for what had to be the hundredth time as she pulled the towel tighter around her naked body.

''Because it's not my bucket list we're trying to complete, it's yours.'' Ruby responded with a smug grin. ''Just drop the towel and do it, Emma. I swear, I won't even laugh, much.'' Emma rolled her eyes at that.

''I swear if a video of this ends up on the internet I'm going to kill you.'' Emma threatened as she passed Ruby on her way to the water. With one last look around to make sure that no one was nearby, Emma took a deep breath and dropped the towel into the sand. And then she stood there in all her naked glory before running into the cold water of the ocean.

A shrill yelp escaped her when the waves splashed against her skin. Emma didn't stop until the water reached her chest. It was unbelievably cold, and all Emma wanted was to get out as fast as she could. But there was something else, a feeling spreading in her chest. She felt free, for the first time she felt like there wasn't one single worry on her mind.

Ruby hollered and whistled at Emma and Emma could not stop laughing at the whole situation. She was skinny dipping for the first time in her life, in the ocean of all things, at a beach in Boston. She raised her arms and looked at the stars above her. This was the perfect start of a new life.

**~30*B*30~**

Seven weeks and six days later, Emma had crossed off twenty-eight of the thirty items on her list. After her skinny dipping stunt she had spent a night in a tent, which she would never do again. Bugs and camping mats just weren't her thing and never would be.

She had been able to cross of seven things off her list at the start, like the horseback riding and running a marathon, she did both of these things before her relationship with Neal found an end. The worst thing was probably the '_get a tattoo_' one, it had hurt like a bitch, but now Emma was admiring the delicate buttercup on the inside of her left wrist. It reminded her of her favorite movie ''The Princess Bride''.

As a girl she always imagined that one day a charming and handsome man would come into her life. Her love of Cary Elwes knew no bounds when she was young. She always thought that Neal was that man, that he was the dashing pirate that would go through countless adventures with her, but now she knew that he was the Humperdinck of her tale.

It was the night before her thirtieth birthday, and she still had two things to cross of the list. One of them being ''singing karaoke''. Ruby was very adamant that she did it tonight. She had no idea that there was another thing left to do, but Emma would ignore that and pretend that everything was crossed off. She would definitely not do it, it was out of the question.

An hour later Emma, Ruby, Victor, Graham, August and Mary Margaret and David were sitting around a table in front of a small stage of the karaoke bar that Ruby had picked out. They all had drinks in front of them and were listening to Ruby sharing stories of Emma's attempts to finish off her bucket list.

''You should have seen her, I bet if Neptune exits, he surely got a boner from watching her.'' Ruby said as she told the others about Emma going skinny dipping at Carson Beach.

''Ruby!'' Emma exclaimed horrified. ''I told you not to tell anyone about that!'' She threw the last of her scotch back, the liquor burning her throat. The others, especially the guys, laughed at her reaction.

''I would have loved to see this.'' August said, and Emma slapped him on the shoulder.

''Perv,'' She said. ''You're like a brother to me, that would have been so weird.''

''David and I went skinny dipping once.'' Mary Margaret added to the discussion, her lips wrapping around the colorful straw to take a sip of her pina colada. Everyone stared at the woman with wide eyes.

''Oh my god, girl, still waters run deep.'' Ruby called out, causing Mary Margaret to blush sightly.

''It was during our honeymoon on the Virgin Islands, we had a little section of the beach to ourselves.'' She explained, her hand intertwining with David's.

''That was a great night.'' David agreed, placing a kiss on his wife's head.

''So Emma, don't you have one more thing to do tonight?'' August asked her, changing the topic of conversation.

''Yes, I already chose a song for you.'' Ruby said, taking her by the wrist in excitement. ''You just have to wait until they call your name, then the stage is all yours.'' And five minutes later it happened, Emma Swan was called to the stage.

She walked up their, her heart beating erratically, her palms sweaty. Ruby had chosen ''One Way Or Another'' by Blondie, she would kill her, she really would. Emma was grateful for the liqud courage running through her system. Her voice wasn't bad, but there were definitely better singers out there.

Her friends acted like her backing vocalists, joining her halfway through the song, their hands clapping to the beat. At least they had fun watching her, but Emma didn't dare look at any other person in the room.

When the song was over, Emma handed the microphone to the guy handling the stage and walked off stage with her eyes fixed on the ground, causing her to run into someone. Hands wrapped around her arms to steady her, and her nose was pressed into a very firm, nice smelling chest.

''I'm so sorry.'' She uttered as she took a step back to look at the walking statue, and her mouth dropped open. Standing in front of her was every girl's wet dream. Blue eyes that usually only existed on the glossy pages of a magazine, dark tousled hair that made her fingers itch to brush through it, and a mouth that demanded to be kissed.

''No harm done.'' He said, and Emma sucked in a breath. His voice did things to her, she wanted to listen to that voice all day and all night, listen to it saying wicked things into her skin and hearing it moan between her thighs.

'_Number twenty-two_, _kiss a stranger_', that had been the thing on her list that she wasn't ready to cross off, the thing she kept secret from Ruby and the others. But right at this moment, Emma wanted nothing more than to check the little box behind number twenty-two.

Without waiting another second, so that she couldn't start doubting her decision, Emma raised herself up on her toes as she slipped her hands up his chest and into his hair. And it was just as soft as she imagined. The last thing she saw beofore she closed her eyes was the shocked expression of the handsome stranger, and then her lips pressed against his.

At first he was rigid as a mannequin and Emma started to panic.

_Oh my god_, she thought,_ what am I doing? I'm molesting a stranger._ And just as she started to pull away, the apologies already forming on her tongue, he woke up from his state of shock. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand firmly pressing against her lower back, the other one burying itself in her hair.

He started to kiss her back, his teeth playfully biting at her lower lip before sucking it between his lips. Tongue peeking out to trace the curve of her mouth. Emma moaned into the kiss and tightened her hold on the strands of his hair, eliciting a grunt from him.

He pulled her body tightly into his, her soft curves perfectly molding against his hard planes. It never felt like this, a kiss never left her wanting more, not even with Neal. He slipped his lips against the underside of her jaw down to her neck where he began sucking at the sensitive point underneath her ear.

And that's when the sound of a throat clearing beside them caused them to pull apart. Emma turned her head towards the source of the noise, her forehead brushing his. Ruby stood there with her arms crossed in front of her chest, eyebrows almost vanishing into her hairline. Behind her, Emma could see the rest of her friends staring at her with slack-jawed expressions.

''Emma, would you like to introduce us to your friend?'' Ruby said, her eyes fixed on him. Emma turned her head again, only now realizing that they still were pretty much fused together. She let go of him at the same time that he let go of her, a deep red blush was creeping up her neck.

''Uhm Ruby this is, uhm...'' She started to say as she her hand gestured between her friend and the stranger.

''Killian Jones.'' He said as he scratched the spot behind his ear in a shy manner.

''Killian Jones.'' Emma repeated like a broken record.

''And who is Killian Jones?'' Ruby inquired, by now an amused smile was playing on her lips. Killian openend his mouth to reply, but Emma beat him to it.

''He's number twenty-two.''

* * *

**A/N: So, this is a oneshot for now. I don't really have the time to start a new mc fic at the moment. But please tell me what you think and leave me a review, especially when you like me to continue :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


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